Bande proved his mettle time and again

He headed the anti-rowdy squad in Gulbarga district

It was on January 8 that police sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande was seriously injured in a shootout between police and contract killer Munna Darbadar here. Bande passed away exactly a week later without regaining consciousness.

According to eyewitnesses, Darbadar snatched sub-inspector Murali’s service revolver, which had fallen on the ground, and whipped out his country-made pistol.

While keeping the country-made pistol aimed at the head of sub-inspector Mr. Murali, he reportedly fired the revolver, consequently injuring assistant sub-inspector Udandappa, who sustained injuries in the stomach.

As he fired the country-made pistol, Mr. Murali ducked. The bullet hit Mr. Bande, who had entered the house, just above the right eyebrow. Mr. Bande was admitted to Basaveshwar Teaching and General Hospital where a surgery was performed to remove blood clots in the brain and stop cerebral bleeding. He was then shifted to Yashoda Super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad.

Mr. Bande, who started his career in the police department as a head constable in 1996, hailed from a poor agriculturist family from Khajuri village. While in duty as a constable, he pursued higher studies and appeared for the PSI examination. He became a police sub-inspector in 2005.

The eldest son, Mr. Bande is survived by his father, sister, two brothers, wife and two children.

He worked in Gulbarga, Raichur, and Bidar districts and proved his mettle time and again. He had a reputation of keeping anti-social elements on a tight leash.

At the time of his death, Mr. Bande was posted at the Station Bazaar police station in charge of crime and also headed the anti-rowdy squad in the district. Superintendent of Police Amit Singh had personally picked him to investigate the heist at Muthoot Finance Corporation during which Rs. 1.6crore was looted in September last year.

Mr. Bande, along with other members of the team, including Mr. Murali, Gopal Rathod and Hemanthkumar had gone to the house of Darbadar, a prime suspect in the heist, after getting information that he was hiding there.